Most Schools Run by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Receive Either an ‘A’ or ‘B’ on the State’s School Letter Grades

Commission staff visited Conerstone Prep Denver last year. (Photo by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission)

The Tennessee Department of Education’s annual release of School Letter Grades this month provided some good news for the state-run Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.

56 percent of the commission’s schools received either an A or a B letter grade. That’s 7 percentage points higher than the state average for school districts. Charter schools are free public schools operated by a non-profit organization under a school district or the commission.

Commission schools receiving an A letter grade include KIPP Antioch Global High School, KIPP Antioch Global Middle School, KIPP Antioch College Prep Middle, KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary, and Rocketship Dream Community Prep.  Cornerstone Prep Denver, Cornerstone Prep Lest, LEAD Neely’s Bend, and Libertas School of Memphis received B ratings.

 “We want to thank all of our schools, teachers, students and families for their hard work last year, and look forward to continuing to work closely with our schools to continue the strong growth we’ve seen in our portfolio over the last several years,” wrote the commission in a statement.

Commission History

State lawmakers created the commission in 2019 to decide appeals from charter operators whose applications or existing charter agreements have been rejected by local school districts. It serves as the authorizer to schools approved on appeal.

This year, that included 24 charters in three counties.

The School Letter Grades release follows last month’s announcement that the commission had achieved Exemplary district recognition for high performance in the 2024-25 school year.